Finally got my herb garden to survive a full week without any dying off

I've been trying to get a little herb patch going behind my house for months, and last week was the first time nothing wilted or got eaten by bugs after 7 days. I moved the basil to a spot that gets morning sun instead of afternoon, and that made a huge difference for just 3 dollars in new soil. Has anyone else found a simple trick like that for keeping herbs alive?

2 comments

2 Comments

jasonp7120d ago

Dude, have you tried putting a thin layer of pebbles or small stones on top of the soil? It stopped my cat from digging in the pots and also kept fungus gnats away. I also learned the hard way that most herbs actually like being a little crowded in the pot, so I stopped repotting them into giant containers. That morning sun thing you figured out is huge too, basil is such a drama queen about direct afternoon heat. You're on the right track for sure!

the_ruby20d ago

Wait, I've had the COMPLETE opposite experience with this. The pebble thing actually made my herbs WORSE because water would sit between the stones and cause the soil underneath to stay too wet, which gave me root rot. I also found that crowding herbs in small pots just makes them leggy and weak, they need room to spread out their roots or they'll just bolt to seed on you immediately. And honestly morning sun alone never worked for my basil either, they'd get all pale and stretched out until I put them in a spot that gets late afternoon filtered light instead.